Thursday, April 13, 2017

Weird horror, but what's the point?

Let me confess it at the outset: I'm getting awfully tired of low-budget horror, and The Voiddid little to change my mind. Writer/directors Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski serve up a gore-soaked story about one horrible night in a rural Canadian hospital. The movie's directing duo tells the story of a feckless cop (Aaron Poole) who finds a battered young man (Evan Stern) in the woods. Poole's Daniel takes the wounded fellow to the ill-equipped local hospital, where the staff doctor (Kenneth Walsh) tends to him. Daniel also interacts with a nurse (Kathleen Munroe) who happens to be his estranged wife. Their marriage teetered after the death of a child. There's also a dopey trainee (Ellen Wong) and a couple of threatening outsiders (Daniel Fathers and MikByskov) who, at least initially, terrorize everyone. Meanwhile, a group of mysterious men in white robes begin circling the hospital. The movie is poised to punch a tension-filled ticket, but veers off into a heap of dimly explained gobbledegook about mad attempts to outwit death. Horror aficionados may enjoy the movie's style. In the end, though, a nuthouse approach to its story undermines The Void's eerie efforts.

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About Me

For 27 years, I was the film critic at The Rocky Mountain News, a Denver daily that has now vanished from the publishing scene. The paper's only round of buyouts made it possible for me to do something I've been wanting to do for some time: seek out new challenges. Since leaving the News, I've made a short film (with a partner), and have done some teaching. Of course, I still love movies and writing about them. So hang out, browse around and feel free to chime in, as well.